Detection Mission. Margaret Daley
engraved on it.”
“Is the picture of you?”
She flattened her palm to show him the necklace that she’d gripped in her hand. “It might be when I was younger.”
His fingers grazed across her skin as he picked it up and opened it.
A tingling from his touch zapped her, further surprising her.
He studied it, then her. “Maybe. Or a member of your family? A sister? Your mother?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to use the name. I need one, and it’s better than Jane Doe. I’m pretty sure it isn’t my daughter.” She attempted a smile, and the gesture seemed alien to her. “I’m probably between twenty-five and thirty.”
Again, he scrutinized her. “If I had to guess, closer to twenty-five.”
When was her birthday? Where was she born? Questions she couldn’t answer flowed through her mind in a steady stream until she had to shut them down or scream in frustration. “What do you need to ask me? I’ll help if I can.” She really hoped she could. This officer was being so nice to her.
“Describe the man you saw in the woods.”
“I saw a man in the woods?”
“When I found you hiding, you said something about a man.” Lee pulled out some photos. “See if you can recognize the one you were talking about.” After spreading out four pictures, he pointed to each one. “Take your time. Study them.”
She examined the four men, and nothing clicked for her. “I don’t know them.”
“So you haven’t seen these men?”
She shook her head. “Not that I remember.”
He held up one of a dark-haired guy with a thick neck and bushy eyebrows.
“No. Maybe.” The bushy eyebrows niggled her memory for a few seconds but nothing concrete came to mind. “I don’t know.” How many times had she said that since she woke up?
“This one?” Lee indicated another man, red hair with thin lips.
“No. Nothing.”
She laid her finger on the man with the bushy eyebrows. “Who is he?”
“Don Frist.”
“Could he have been chasing me before you saw me?”
“I don’t know. We didn’t see him pursuing you. But you were definitely running from something or someone.”
“Where is this man?” She examined him again, wanting to be able to identify him—to know someone.
“In jail.”
“What did he do?”
He has quite an extensive rap sheet...which includes kidnapping Brady Billows.”
“The little boy you told me about this morning? I don’t understand why anyone would harm a child.” The idea that someone would kill or hurt a little boy knotted her stomach. Did she have a child? The more she thought about the question, the more she didn’t think so.
“I agree. But Brady will be fine, thankfully. He was scared but between his mother, Eva, and Detective Austin Black, another K-9 team member, he’ll be safe.”
“Did he find the little boy?”
“Yes and he will soon be his stepfather.”
A happy ending. Relief unraveled the knots. “I’m so glad.” Peering down, she touched her left ring finger, but there was no sign she’d ever worn a wedding band. For some reason she felt in her heart she loved kids. Not liked. Loved.
“Do you remember something?”
“Yes. I love children.”
“Do you remember if you have any?”
“I don’t think any of my own. It doesn’t feel like it. I don’t think I’m married.” She held up her ringless finger on her left hand.
“Maybe you worked with children.”
“Could be.”
“That could help us find where you’re from. Contact friends and family.”
“No” tumbled from her mouth before she could stop the word.
TWO
The panic that invaded Heidi’s voice made Lee wonder if she knew more than she was letting on. “You don’t want us to look for your family and friends? Don’t you want to know who you are?”
She dropped her head, staring at her lap. “Yes, of course, but...”
“But what?”
When she lifted her gaze to his, her beautiful brown eyes shimmered with tears. “Why was I running through the woods? How did I get hurt?” She touched her forehead. “How did I get this gash?”
“You think someone is after you?”
“I don’t know.” With a deep sigh, she settled back against the raised bed.
“So you don’t want us to put your picture out and see if anyone knows you?”
She kneaded her fingertips into her temples. “Not right now. I’d like to try and remember who I am first. I just can’t get past...” Nibbling on her bottom lip, she averted her eyes.
“Why you were running as if someone were after you?”
She nodded. “Earlier today, I had a dream—no, nightmare. Someone was chasing me and it looked like I was in a wooded area. He caught up with me and—” she connected with his gaze “—and he was trying to kill me. What if that’s true? What if that’s why I was running when you saw me?”
“The only two men we know were in the woods were these two I showed you.” He pointed to the redheaded man. “This guy is dead.” Then he tapped the photo of the guy with the bushy eyebrows. “Don Frist is in jail. If they were after you, you’re safe.”
But why would they have been after her in the first place? All the police’s quiet inquiries around town about her identity had hit a dead end. No one knew her and there wasn’t anyone fitting her description missing in Sagebrush. But could there have been a third man in the woods that day? They’d thought there might have been. Would she be able to tell them if she remembered?
“Give me a chance to recall first. The doctor said my memory could come back at any time.”
He didn’t want to tell her he’d already told his captain he was going to do some checking in the surrounding towns. He could still do that quietly, go through the police in those towns, and check their missing-person’s reports. For some reason he felt responsible for her. He’d captured her in the first place, when she tripped and fell while he chased her. She’d hit the ground hard. He’d always wondered if that was what had caused her to lose consciousness. “Have you talked to the doctor today?”
“Not yet, but last night he told me he wants to make sure the swelling has gone down. If so, he thought I could leave here in a day or so.”
“Where are you going to go?”
Her light brown eyes widened. “I don’t know. Did I have a purse with me?”
“No, but you had some money stuffed in your jean pocket.”
“How much?”
“Four hundred in twenties.”
Surprise flitted across her lovely features again. “Where did that money come from?”
“Good question. I don’t suppose you remember?”
She shook her head slowly.
“As